Moving past sombreros in Oct.

4:24 PM,
Oct. 4, 2012

Written by

Esther J. Cepeda
Esther J. Cepeda

I, and I suspect others, have a love-hate relationship with Hispanic Heritage Month. On one hand, it's fiestas and pinatas and children learning about Cesar Chavez and how great Latin American culture is.

But on the other, it's a reminder of the rest of the year's status quo. Though I've thought it myself a million times, I don't think I've ever heard it described as eloquently as Arlene Davila, a professor of anthropology, social and cultural analysis at New York University, did last week.

"I've learned to see it as what it is, which is a huge marketing tool. This is the time of the year when ...